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A Long Road to Fortune/Issue 37
This is the first issue in Volume 7 of A Long Road to Fortune, and the start of Chapter 2. It is titled Tenexpa. Tenexpa The kicking of a can makes a useless sound with a useless originating effort. Useless. That's all there is to say about the situation. The kicking continues and the can keeps moving, making the slightest effort to disperse its tin body across the ground. Little by little, bit by bit, but ultimately useless. That is how Lucas Delgado feels his efforts to be, no greater than the can's he keeps kicking across the ground. His wishes of it flying off and getting lost in the endless blue horizon are a pipe dream, because sooner or later gravity will take its cue, and the can will fall right back down, right back to Tenexpa, Guerrero. He digs his hand deep into his dark blue jean pockets, arching his head down, eyes peeled right at the stupid can he can't seem to stop kicking. Even his well-kept kicks didn't make it improve. The can represented himself, as he saw it, and his own feet represented his new destiny. Oh, right. I shouldn't call it that, after all, it's the destiny the cartel has chosen for Lucas himself. See, this happens to all the youth of Tenexpa eventually, at least under the rule of Don Tucan. The youth of the town, willingly or otherwise, get drafted to defend the town from hostile threats, which are now the infected mostly. Now one dares to fuck with the cartel, even after the end of the world. Tenexpa's sizeable body demanded the working hand of the young adult men, like Lucas himself. All this time he's done well to avoid such a fate, but his luck ends now. All he wanted to do was continue a driftin', knowing there's probably not a stop to Don Tucan. There were two kinds of men in Tenexpa, those who drift, and those commit. Of course, we all know drifters have to stop drifting some day. Any day now, this done drifter will be Lucas. Lucas thinks back to this so called "drifting" of his, what exactly got him to wind up in the clutches of Tenexpa, of Don Tucan, in the first place. First off, Lucas himself hails from el Cerrito like one his friends, Yvette. Who the hell knows where she is at the moment, but Lucas hopes she is safe, not just alive, but safe. Same goes for the rest of his dear friends. Fausto, Liza, Mimi, and recently that reformed delinquent, Ashton. Lucas didn't think he could take a liking to him. Then again, he never was one to believe the words of the naive eyes. Each and every one of them is like a member of his extra family, transcending into his own blood. Always there they were, cheering him on during football games, watching as he kicks the ball into the goal. Lucas took pride in being the best striker that el Cerrito had at its disposal. Football is all but a memory to him now, as Tenexpa's only soccer field has been transformed into a fucking gladiator pit, a stadium where Don Tucan pits whatever poor loser he has captured against pretty much anything he pleases. Large mutated infected are usually big in entertainment for the elderly of Tenexpa, ignoring the fact that each time someone dies in the arena, they forget about another face they might have been used to seeing in a different world. You know, the world that existed 7 months ago. Lucas finally stops kicking when the can is caught in somebody's hand. Lucas darts his glance to whom it is that he has to thank for rescuing from doing such a dull activity. It's none other than a small boy, no older than 10. Lucas knows his as Carlitos, a young orphan with no memory of his parents, although Lucas knew the real story for that. Carlitos looks up at Lucas with his usual, innocent look of excitement. Even with his sour mood, Lucas quickly changes his frown to that of a smile once he catches glimpse of Carlitos' missing teeth, which included his left fang. In one hand, Carlitos held the can, and in the other, a small sack of marbles. Lucas can guess pretty accurately what it is Carlitos is about to ask him. "Carlitos, tell me my friend, what's up?" Lucas keeps his smile going and Carlitos appreciates it. He opens his mouth to speak. "You look super bored kicking that can around. You should play marbles with me again! I beat Humberto and he gave me some new ones I want to show you. Up for it?" Carlitos delightfully asks Lucas, who chuckles as he turns his head up. "As long as nothing's at stake, you know the drill with me Carlitos." Lucas accepts. "Are we doing this at the usual place?" Lucas adds. "Yeah like always!" Carlitos speaks and darts off to a small red bungalow in the distance. It has a front corridor, as do a lot of houses on Tenexpa. It's one of the more primitive towns in the municipality, not even having access to phone service. Since Lucas is an athlete, or well, former athlete now, he has no trouble catching up to Carlitos, forcing the young boy to sprint even faster. Lucas sticks head to head with him, but drops his running speed right as they reach the corridor, effectively letting Carlitos claim victory. "Woo-hoo! You're too slow!" He prances in victory. Lucas takes this poor show of sportsmanship with care. After all, Carlitos is just a kid. That time of no responsibility and innocence is lauded by anyone. "Yeah, next time you won't get so lucky kid." Lucas retorts lightly. Carlitos has already seated by the time Lucas has spoken though. The kid is quick to evenly split the marbles amongst himself and Lucas, while placing some in the middle of the ground, those they are to knock off. Carlitos didn't know exactly how to play a game of marbles whenever he made the rules, but Lucas doesn't ever want to correct the kid. Sitting down opposite of Carlitos, Lucas gets the idea to ask him an everyday question. "Carlitos, why do like this old abandoned home anyway?" Lucas asks, eying the decaying wooden planks sustaining the roof of the corridor. "Because it's nice, and I really like it. I want to go inside one day." Carlitos refers to the fact that the door of the house is locked, and it was locked by Lucas himself. This Carlitos does not know. "Aren't you tired of me always asking this?" Lucas asks the boy, who gives him a dumbfounded look in return. "What? You never ask me this Lucas!" Carlitos laughs, and so does Lucas, awkwardly albeit. Lucas likes it this way, Carlitos keeping the serene twilight inside his young head. He has to make sure it's like this everyday for the kid. This home they sit on, after all, has been landmark for the kid his whole life. Like Lucas thought to himself early and I repeat to you now, he knows the whole story. Continuing his game if marbles, Lucas focuses his a mind on two things, his perfect rolls and his lingering thoughts from earlier. A soldier of Don Tucan, Lucas Delgado. The ring to it is a mixture of heinous and sour, not welcomed by his taste through any means. As he lines up marble using his left hand, Lucas takes this split moment to focus before flicking the marble straight at the bank of them in the middle, causing them to disperse. This was brief and unimportant to him, but a delightful candy to Carlitos' eyes. Yet the name still rings inside his head. 'Lucas Delgado: Damned Soldier of the Damned Don Tucan himself!'. ---- A beautiful set of feminine fingers lavished to perfection with cherry red paint on the fingernails, fiddle. This fiddle is confused, and frankly, impatient. Tenseness runs down her spine in the form of a chill. The chill is a part of her job, one of the many shortcomings. The dirt road of uncertainty, yet adventure, demands the progress of Telma Naipes Tucan. The "Tucan" part of her name isn't official, rather, just customary. In truth Telma only holds her mother's surname, Naipes, on her legal documents. Any links to the name Tucan would prove dangerous for someone like her. Telma is thankful for this herself, wanting the cartel and her life to be two completely separate things. They were, for a while. School, her boyfriend, her unsuspecting friends, Telma left them by force when shit hit the fan. By that, of course, I mean the apocalypse. The doctrine of anarchy, as Telma likes to see it. Her vehicle has been at a stop for nearly 10 minutes, enough time to reach the town 6 times over by car, as the lack of traffic on rural dirt roads is an everyday phenomenon. The lack of vehicles in Tenexpa surely goes without mentioning, as well. Telma takes we last breath, as the chill concentrates on her back and the back of her neck as well, what feels like suffocation perhaps. Nevertheless, she shakes it off and turns to the key in the ignition, waking her car from its slumber, as it roars with ferocious bravado. Today, her father and the better body of his men are absent, and as such Telma must explain this to the town populous. The elderly bask on the rubber of their rich minds as the young weep to their silent feelings. This happens every time Telma plays messenger. All she wants to is to leave the brutality behind. Yet, as a spawn of brutality, her home has been made in the midst of a trap. Escaping the trap has been her life's objective. Bleh. She has work to do. Shake such thoughts she must and she begins the very short drive to Tenexpa's southmost wall. --- Telma makes her presence known with the mighty cries of her car's engine. The people in town look out of their porches to see it call to them. Slowly, they leave their homes and track the car back to the town square, or the zocalo, Tenexpa's zocalo. The townspeople gather around the zocalo, as they see Telma emerge from her vehicle. The chills in her remain, but they adjust rather lightly. Telma puts on a straight posture, and any sign of regret is long gone. Her signature red dress doesn't cover her body today, it is actually a more loose, purple dress with flower patterns at the waist, Telma's well kept figure cannot be seen from the waist down. Lucas Delgado reaches the zocalo, alone, accompanied by no one. He has left Carlitos elsewhere, safe, but elsewhere. He takes a stand next to a young woman, about 5 inches shorter than he is. Her hazel eyes always catch his attention during a conversation. The woman doesn't notice his presence at first, until Lucas pats her back, which is partly covered by her long, dark brown hair. The woman turns around, and smiles when she spots Lucas. "Heeyyy, what's up Lucas?" the woman says to him. Lucas smiles back at her and stands side by side with her. "Hey Alejandra. You know, just came to see what the Devil Wears Prada is here to say. Good things about the grand devil, I presume." Lucas' remark causes the woman, Alejandra, to chuckle, a little loudly noted by the fact that some of the elderly turn around to look at them, but they're promptly ignored by the duo. "Are you sure you're not talking about Gloria? That bitch is the real she-devil, Telma is a just daddy's girl." "I mean what I say. The chick has his blood, so she's just as bad." "Oh Lucas...I thought she was your friend? I've seen you talk to her before." "Yeah, we've made small talk. How's that supposed to mean we're friends. The less I catch of her pampered stench, the better." "I know that was supposed to be a remark, but really, she smells very nice. Not perfume nice either, she really sanitizes." This reply causes Lucas to arch his head back, finding the response strange. "Uh, yeah. I don't know what the hell that was." He calmly replies. Alejandra stands there puzzled, trying to decipher if Lucas referred to her words or his own, but she let's the detail slip her mind when Telma begins to tap of the microphone, causing the usual unpleasant noise. "Good morning everybody. Did you all sleep well and have a nice lunch? I hope you did." She pauses. "As you may have probably noticed, my father's men aren't around patrolling town this evening." murmurs from the crowd commence, with the spectators already speculating much about the meaning of this town meeting. "Watch, Don Tucpan probably got himself a new zone to bling again. At least he's honest about this kind of shit." Lucas scoffs. Alejandra pushes her lips into her mouth and nods to Lucas' words. Don Tucan is always honest about his intentions of ravaging a new safe zone. "He's currently making contact with Tecpan, or what's left of it. Over the last 5 months, survivors have gathered in out dear municipality's capital and have managed to give it life again. My father, as always, has gone to introduce his terms to them." "Uh huh. That's a nice way of putting it, Telma." Alejandra mumbles to herself. "As usual, they'll be back later today and my father will inform us himself of what went on during his visit." Telma stops again. There's more that she could say, sure, but her throat gets sore rather quickly every time she delivers this sort of speech. "That is all I've to say for now. My father should return later today, before the sun sets for the day." Telma takes a sudden now and retreats from the platform, walking back to her vehicle. Of course, a young boy with a bandana on his face stands near, making sure Telma's retreat to her vehicle is not problematic. Lucas stares in rage at how armed to the teeth he is: vest, rifle, knife on satchel, the whole deal. It sickens him yet this is what he will be receiving quite soon. A nice adornment from Don Tucan. "That's not going to be you." Alejandra says to Lucas, who snaps out of his stare and turns to Alejandra. "Yeah, right. If I believed that I'd might as well drop my pants and go bend over for a grosero's throbbing boner." Lucas' words cause Alejandra to cringe at the imagery. "You're not supposed to actually imagine that." "Right. Sorry, heheh..." Alejandra chuckles uncomfortably. "Wanna take a walk? I can't stand hanging around here any longer." Lucas proposes. Alejandra simply contemplates for a second before nodding. As they leave back the way they both came, a pair of eyes stare at the though the side view mirror of a car. It's Telma, observing them as they leave the zocalo. The two youths make her smile, content that every pair of eyes doesn't sit and conform to her father's harsh form of governing. The man, her father, is a modern day dictator. Taking over other safe zones, seeing his people as expendable rubbage, the list goes on. Josef Stalin would slow-clap to him if he were here this day. ---- Lucas and Alejandra keep walking down the street, the only Main Street in the small town of Tenexpa as other streets simply converge to the side and lead to people's homes. Alejandra looks for something she can kill her time with, a rubber ball in the ground, a bat, or a box to decorate. Forced to room with Lucas, a untidy boy, their place was always turned upside down thanks to their lack of furniture. While Alejandra simply looked to kill time and await the arrival of Don Tucan and his new spoils, which would surely include more unlucky gladiators, Lucas continued his vindictive stare at the town populous. All of them are either women, children, or elderly, most of them elderly. Tenexpa is an old time town, with many of the residents being retired men and women who house with them grandchildren and the rest of their offspring's family. The deal isn't bad, they all still get to live their life in peace and tranquility, raise their families. Mothers could be mothers, fathers could be fathers, grandparents could be grandparents, children could be children. But what of the youth of the town? Teenagers, boys, girls? The future is much more grim for them. Don Tucan has always been a man who can see an empty lot as an opportunity and turn it into something for his twisted gain. In this case, the youth of the town. Teenagers made up most of his army, and many of them are loyal to the man who took them in and offered them shelter. Hell, to some, Don Tucan is even a fucking savior. People of all ages, living under one relic of a town. The youth live a brutal life, while the elders live life forgetting that they're rule by a tyrant. They may seem like they're trying to ignore that fact, sure, but in reality-- they accept it. Lucas can't live his life like this, and sickens him that others can. Don Tucan is going to be eliminated and he will make damn sure of it. Alejandra peeks to the side, and finds a plastic ball to the side of the road. She grabs it and begins to bounce it up and down, picking it up and throwing it at Lucas. It hits him in the face, and he once again snaps out of his trance. "You really tend to do that a lot, huh? One day you might just trip and land head first on something. Probably the ground. And you might break your nose, and I don't think any of the town surgeons are good enough to fix noses." Alejandra warns Lucas. "If that ever happens I'll owe you a rockaleta or something." Lucas responds, paying little mind to Alejandra's words. "Yeah, yeah..." Alejandra turns away from Lucas and returns to bouncing her ball around. She doesn't mind that she's supposed to be in her twenties and still fools around like a child. Alejandra's attention is caught by a group of women, gossiping to themselves in a table. A woman by the name of Maritza Nieves lives in the store they are currently sitting in and she's currently present in the interchange. Alejandra knows these women, given her popularity amongst the town. Any single girl or woman with her looks is an instant hit in the municipality of Tecpan de Galeana. Maritza spots Alejandra in the distance and motions her to come over to her. Alejandra does, bouncing her ball as she advances. "Hello precious, how have you been?" Maritza, the older woman, asks. The rest of the women greet Alejandra. Then, Alejandra proceeds to peck her in the cheek and likewise, repeating the process with the five other women sitting in the table. This is a custom, and Alejandra has learned this in her seven months of apocalypse life. "What are you gals up to? The latest of the greatest I hope." Alejandra refers to the gossip, the gossip the population of Mexican towns specialize in. There really isn't much to do in small towns anyway, explaining the dominant presence of gossip. "Oh yesss, wanna take part? Take a seat dear." Maritza points to the only vacant seat in the table and Alejandra plants her bum in it. "Like I was saying earlier, that Telma isn't the sweet innocent girl she makes us think she is. They say that she's been sleeping around with Don Claudio and Silvestre." Maritza starts. "Oh yes, I've heard even the hitmen pass her around. I heard someone has her sucking off Scorpion on video." "She's a promiscuous little vixen, that one." Maritza adds, nodding along to everyone in the table. Alejandra has a look of astonishment in her face. "Damn, I didn't know that. I mean, she seemed so nice. I've talked to her before and she didn't look like the promiscuous type at all." Alejandra still can't believe her ears, eating the gossip up like candy. "Don't believe yourself, dear. That woman can't have anyone know that she's the way she is. She's the daughter of the boss, if anyone finds out she'll be in a lot of trouble. No one can be that perfect, everyone has something dark to hide." Maritza lectures. "Telma is a slut then...who knew?" "We did, of course." Maritza proceeds to make everyone scoot a little closer to her. "and Don Claudio is coming over to see me home tonight." Maritza announces proudly. The minds of these women run wild with theories. "He wants something honey, oh he wants something alright." one of the women replies. "Question is, are you going to give him what he wants?" One of the women asks, to which Maritza responds by slapping her own ass. "Claudio? Aren't you put off that man? He's a capo, I mean--" "But he's SO handsome! A man his age still has it all. Who wouldn't want to jump on him the first chance they got?" "I wouldn't. He terrifies me." Alejandra declares. "Oh, maybe he's just not your type then. There are plenty of suitors here in town for you my dear. How old are you?" "Eh..20-something? I'm not close to 30 yet I'm sure." "Mmmm you don't look close to 30 either honey. In fact, you don't look a day over 20!" Maritza responds with a compliment, making Alejandra blush. "Thank you Mari. You're too much." still blushing. "Are you sure there's no one you like in town? None of Don Tucan's handsome folk catch your eye?" "No Mari, they're all terrifying. I can't even see past their neck tattoos. I really want take a piss every time I see one of them!" Alejandra's response causes some of the women to cringe in disgust, thanks to the last part of Alejandra's interchange. Others like Mari just laugh. "Really? Not even Punta or Scorpion?" "Especially those two, and Kanguro. I'm glad they never return a glance at me. I'd freeze." "Too bad we don't know what Kanguro looks like under that bandana. How boring..." Maritza drops her elbow on the table and uses it to support her chin. "Not one of them then? Huh, are you sure you're not a dyke then? Gloria isn't a bad looker, but she's a dyke for sure. I mean who wears that many tattoos?" "No, I'm not a dyke heheh.." she replies uncomfortably. At least I don't think I am. There's a bit of silence for a moment, with Alejandra not grasping the concept of what just happened. For a moment anyway. Maybe she was supposed to be offended by the comment? Really, she didn't feel she was though. Or maybe it was some friendly teasing? Like the kind Lucas tends to do? Quite possibly. Anywho, Alejandra decides not to take it the wrong way. "This was informative, but I was supposed to be taking a walk with Lucas and...I think I lost him. This was really fun, though. We should catch up some more later!" Alejandra states as she says her goodbyes to the group of women. Maritza gives her a hug waves her off. When Alejandra is out of sight, a woman begins talking to Maritza. "How come you didn't mention that your son is single, Mari? He could easily make Alejandra his woman." "Are you kidding? I don't want that ditzy airhead to marry into the family, and not just any family, my family at that." Maritza responds proudly. "I guess you're right. Still, the grandchildren would come out looking splendid." the other woman adds. "It doesn't matter if she's that dumb to me." "Still, my son can do much, much better. And besides, haven't you heard? Lucas eats her up every night." the other women take in Maritza's words and nod along. "Why do you think she's so skinny? He makes sure there's nothing left of her when fucks her." all of the women laugh amongst each other. ---- Lucas is back to kicking another can as he wanders aimlessly around town. Maybe that was the one good thing about being a soldier of Don Tucan. At least then he'll have something to do. But no, he couldn't allow himself to think optimistics about this situation. The air begins to take a turn for the worst, as there's a sudden uneasy breeze moving about it. Lucas can feel his goosebumps surface on his skin as this air of uneasiness grows around him. He feels pairs of eyes where there are none and looks around for the as if he were schizophrenic. To think that just a second ago he was thinking ill of Don Tucan, until a breeze came around to change that, made him fear for his life. "Fucking Don Tucan..." he mutters aloud to himself. Yet the air is empty. Nothing or no one can hear him. Lucas feels defiant for a moment. Even with the man far as away from him at the moment, Lucas can't deny his fear. All it took was the pull of a trigger from any of his hitmen to send Lucas straight to the afterlife, and there were many hitmen to choose for the role of his maker. Even so, Lucas felt the need, the drive, to get something out of his system. With that, he began to run, and run he did. Thanks to his physique and demeanor of a football soccer player, Lucas easily makes his way across town, all the way to an eastern dirt road leading out of Tenexpa. Conveniently placed to the side of this road in the town graveyard. Lucas comes to a halt at the gate and takes a giant breath of air before releasing what he's about to do. "Fuck you Don Tucan!" He screams into the air. It was loud, sure, but it could've been much louder. He is determined to make it nuh more so. "Fuck you Don Tucan!!" But alas, twas' still not enough. So Lucas continued barraging the air with his fueled hatred of Don Tucan. "Fuck you Don Tucan!!!" "Fuck you Don Tucan!!!!" "Fuck YOU, Don Tucan!!!" "FUCK YOU DON TUCAAAAAAANNN!" Lucas drops to the ground for a seat afterwards, breathing heavily. All that venting was needed, even if his lungs now feel raspy, and his throat sore as if it were sanding paper. Lucas can't help but smile that he got all of that bullshit out of his system. "Shut the hell up...dumbass kid..." Lucas turns to the source of these sudden words and sees where they originated from. To the side he sees a man, drinking some hard liquor. Clearly enough to inebriated, but the man stands straight yet. He throws his bottle of liquor away after it has hit the bottom. Lucas watches the man in disgust, turning away from him, before the main calls out for his attention again. "What the hell do you want you old drunken coot?" Lucas retorts. "I have a name young in, and it's Demian Acosta. And I'm not drunk, unfortunately." Demian, the man who apparently isn't drunk, replies. "How the fuck am I supposed to believe that? You just upped a whole fucking bottle of JB, I think that more than constitutes a drunk." "I've always been very good with my liquor, what can I say?" Lucas had to admit, for a drunken bastard Demian's speech pattern stayed correctly, he didn't move tipsy at all, and most of all, his eyes weren't red. Shit, maybe he really wasn't drunk, but Lucas wasn't about to give him the benefit of the doubt. "Whatever, I think I got what I wanted done. That's all I came way out here to do. So I guess I'll be seeing you, wonder drunk." Lucas says to the man. Demian would normally be offended by a kid running his mouth like this, but really, there was something in Lucas he saw just now that have him a sort of soft spot for the kid. It might be the fact that unlike the rest of the inhabitants of Tecpan, Lucas isn't going to conform to the cartel forever. "If that's so, I just wanna give you a word of advice kid. Don Tucan has a pair of eyes and ears everywhere, and the man will silence you if any of them catch so much as a glimpse of any of this." Demian says. "You can go far kid, very far. You just got ta' play it safe." he adds Lucas scoffs, barely looking back at the man. After what he just said, maybe he really is drunk. "I'm leaving now." Is the final thing Lucas says before continuing down the dirt road again. Demian's eyes follow him down the road, before Lucas disappears. Demian sits down after this, and reaches for another bottle. "I hope you do the trick, then. I could use something to do..." He states as opens the bottle. ---- Telma sits by in a table, waiting for her father to arrive. She now wears a white hat as it's about 2 PM and the sun sits has begun to fry the heads of people in Tenexpa. Telma can feel all eyes on her as she sits, checks her watch. Her father should return any minute now. She just hopes force wasn't necessary this time around, as when her father decided to use force, it meant he left a path of destruction in his wake. Even with the pairs of eyes on her, who Telma can pretty much see coming from all sides, she can't help but continue looking strong, confident. Can't afford to cower, she'd make the cartel look bad. Even if being the golden daughter of the devil helped her safety, Telma still wanted nothing to do with them. Escaping Tenexpa has never been a viable option for her, however. So Telma continues to sit, as her bodyguards continue to stand like armed trophies, young boys turned to groomed pets of the cartel. She checks her watch every few seconds, just wanting the wait to end. ---- Lucas continues walking down the road, kicking some dirt as he goes along. The reason he liked kicking things so much, apart from being bored out of his mind, is maybe just because he wants to kick another football, at least that's what he thinks. He's long forgotten the fact that it's been hours since he's seen Carlitos or Alejandra, and that he is supposed to be on a walk with the latter. No big a loss though, the two take walks together quite often. Plus she did get distracted by something on the road, as always. Whatever, he figures. He continues his trek down the dirt road, a road long, yet short for him specifically. It still managed to be full of nothingness, boredom. Maybe despair as the trees begin taking the light away, forcing Lucas to advance through the dark shade. Without thinking about it, impulsively even, his trek continues and continues. Goes on and on. Really, what else could there be to life at this point? "Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in cage..." Lucas mutters to himself. He continues moving and doesn't even notice that he's back in the main town. All he recalls is no longer having kicked dirt around, which looking now, makes a whole lot of sense. While Alejandra's words are usually the ones to knock him out his trance, this time his ticket back to reality comes in the form of a small group of vehicles, heading straight for him. Lucas curses under his breath, as now he comes to realize that he misses Alejandra's way of regaining his attention. Lucas runs to the curb and sees the vehicles ride into town. In the lead, he sees the king of castle, in all his glory. Basking. In fashion of a true king, he is accompanied by his two most trusted men, El Kanguro and Scorpion, with the latter acting as the driver. As the cochlea continue driving past him, he spots Silvestre riding behind, followed by Claudio, and finally, a large storage truck, which is without a doubt where the rest of the hitmen are. Lucas' expression of fear returns, as he stares wide eyed at the cartel returning. "Holy shit...they're back!" Alejandra is a just as worried as Lucas, who she is side by side with now. She holds Carlitos' tiny left hand with her hand, as she urges Lucas to come along with them with the use of her neck. "Yeah-- yeah, sure." Lucas nods along, and moves side by side with them. They reach the zocalo in no time. Alejandra, Carlitos, and Lucas move through the crowd until they find spots where they can see everything going on. Don Tucan is at the podium, and his vehicles are parked to the side of it. Telma watches from the table which she has been sitting in since earlier. The look on her father's face confirms her worries. Don Tucan smiles, but this is a forced smile, tenacious even. My he wrinkles in his forehead shift a little, as he gets ready to speak. His mouth approaches the microphone, before his lips part and his mouth is open. "Ladies...gentlemen..." He starts. As he does, Lucas and Alejandra tremble in fear of what's to come out his senile mouth. They look elsewhere around, but nothing. They're the only ones who feel this way. Frankly, that was to be expected. They're among the few non-conformists in the land mass of conformists. "Tecpan de Galeana...a place I know you are all familiar with..." he starts, as Telma gulps in worry. "As my Telma mentioned earlier, we have made contact with them. Their zone, it is precious. Their resources, flawlessly managed. Their people, strong, virile, active." "It is quite possibly the greatest of all the safe zones we have ever converged, is it not?" Claudio and Silvestre nod in agreement, as the hitmen stay put. Quiet. They look just like soldiers, but wear a distant kind of uniform. Lucas notes at the injuries on Scorpion and el Kanguro. Their faces decorated with bruises, blood, and black eyes. "Well, that is where the problem erupted...they see us. Naturally, they raise their guard, so we come at night. But their tenacity, their fiery tenacity, it got the better of them." As Alejandra watches, she is suddenly tossed aside, landing right on her bum. Just before she sees who it is that just threw her to the ground, she stops at the pants. They are ripped, and black. Alejandra's face is filled with premature fear as they slowly follow up to the tattooed body, until they reach the face, the identity. It is Gloria, the she-devil. Alejandra stays paralyzed, as Gloria moves past the rest of the crowd, who part from her way with respect. Eventually, she rejoins her hitmen brethren, and looks directly at the crowd. This piercing look, exactly, pierces through Alejandra in a heart beat. Lucas turns to see his friend down and is quick to pull her up. Alejandra mutters a simple "thank you", as she is too afraid to to even slightly call out any attention. All of this happened in just three brief seconds, three seconds that felt like an eternity to Alejandra. "Blood, the people of their safe zone spilled first blood. Blood is paid with blood. I look at them the next day and see a powerful group of individuals, ready to take on the might of Tenexpa. There they were, huddled together, because we spilled their blood." Everything is silent for a moment, the only entity speaking being the wind. "With blood, came the spoils. And now, their zone is ours, mine." Don Tucan takes a brief moment to straighten his posture. "What can you call a man who lifts not a finger to keep what is his? No man, which is why I chose to spare their zone from a worse faith. They were mighty, but we were even mightier. We return here, not as simple men of charges, but men of victory." "Open the truck and, let them all see what we have brought to expand our delightful keep." He orders his men, Punta and Shaman. They open the back door and reveal crates of supplies, supplies that bask on the glory of the Costa Grande Cartel. Oh, but among the supplies are two beings, their souls dear to us, the people who peek through the letters. "Bring them forth. Let them see for themselves." Don Tucan orders once more. The two beings, a male youth and a grown woman, are dragged to the center of the zocalo. While the woman is gently placed down by Shaman, Punta proceeds to throw the youth away, forcing him to land harshly against the concrete ground of Tenexpa. We cannot see who they are, as their faces are well hidden by the empty sacks placed around their upper bodies. "Unmask them. Start with the woman." Shaman complies to his bosses wishes, and pulls the sack up, revealing the woman to us. Her beautiful hair, gorgeous good looks, and petrified look of despair. They're all too familiar to us, because we are staring right at Yuri Baltazar. She shivers, more than terrified for her safety, right in the brink of tears. Oh Yuri, it seems like maybe you really haven't changed after all, have you? "This woman is one of the spoils we have collected. She spilled blood, so now we must spill hers." Oh, but who is the other being laying down on the concrete? Why don't we find out now... "The boy, now unmask the boy!" Don Tucan shouts this command at Punta, who complies and sits pulls the male up by the back of his neck. Then, he makes sure to lift the sack, and in turn, reveal who he is. "This insolent boy, dared to do what no other has done. Bravery before us, before the grand cartel. For that, he gets our respect. Say hello to the champion of Tecpan." It's Ashton, still practically out cold. His face is bruised and battered with bumps and both his eyes are purple. He bleeds from his forehead as well, but he tries his best to open his eyes. Lucas cannot fucking believe what he is seeing. "What the fuck!" Alejandra whispers to herself and Lucas. "That's fucking sick, he's not an animal!" "Shit, no no no!" Lucas whispers in turn. Damn it Ashton, damn it! Why did it have to be you? "Take a good look at the boy, you will see him in action quite soon. If he is to fail, you know what that signifies for the fate of this woman, an his zone." Don Tucan finishes. Ashton, finally opens his eyes, and his vision is a blur. He shakes his head, and it becomes clear once more. He is Tenexpa, eyes of many strangers look at him with intrigue, few with horror. Among those few with horror, he thinks he can see a soul from his past. A friend. "Lu...Lucas?" is all Ashton gets to groan to himself, just before Punta sends him plummeting down again, causing his eyes to come to a permanent shut. Oh Ashton, just what did you pull? Don't you know that nobody objects to the might of Don Tucan? God damn it Ashton... Trivia *Liza wasn't in this issue. Category:A Long Road to Fortune Category:A Long Road to Fortune Issues Category:Issues Category:PBR Sharpshoot Stories